


Hellbound

by fayrenz



Category: SHINee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 00:56:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12947841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fayrenz/pseuds/fayrenz
Summary: Just a short jongyu that happened because my friends were talking about Devil!Jinki.Please read the notes after reading the story (to clear some doubts you might have about the story)





	Hellbound

The skies were red and his throne a glistening ebony. His eyes were the shade of fading embers and his dull crimson horns peeked out from the mess of ebony hair. He often sat in his throne, staring at two rings that he wore in a chain around his neck- rings that were now old, the gold coat fading into blackening silver, the imitation gems losing luster. It wasn't worth much in the mortal world...but to him, they were worth everything.

 

He had taken a mortal form then, to capture hellbound spirits that had escaped one of his demon’s hold, using a cheap form of heavenly magic. He hadn’t expected to stay, he hadn’t expected to sway. But _he_ had been a temptation.

 

If only he had walked away that moment. If only he had not acted upon the emotion filling his heart upon hearing him recite stories for the crowd in that village. If only he had halted after getting a taste of his company. If only he had not deemed their differences trivial. If only he had not assumed that the teachings were mere fables.

 

_You may love a mortal but be prepared to live with that love for an eternity. You may change form, you may erase your memories...but that love will haunt you forever. You may love a mortal but pray he doesn’t love you back...for, if he does, your souls will intertwine. It is a bond anomalous and death will do anything to balance the anomalies of the universe._

 

Those words rang in his head...because he had lost _him_ mere weeks after he had reciprocated his love.

 

He had lost him despite the precautions he had taken...despite the plans he had devised...to get hold of his soul at his demise...so he could keep him by his side.

 

He should have known.

 

His soul was heaven bound. He could not even see it, let alone touch it. His magic had backfired when he attempted to capture his soul...and he landed in hell, his mortal shell obliterated by the light of heaven’s protection. He had returned to the world...to properly bury the body his love’s soul had left behind...to take the token of their love...as a reminder of his grave mistake...of his greed...that had rendered his love’s life short and unfulfilled. He wore it close to his chest because he was still greedy, still wished to cherish his love despite his guilt.

 

That was when he understood...why he was the Devil.  


 

 

* * *

 

  


“My lord.”

 

“My lord.”

 

“Jinki?”

 

Jinki turned towards the one calling upon him. One of his demons. Kibum.

 

“The procedure is almost complete, my lord.” Kibum spoke, bowing, “All that is left is the addition of a part of your soul.”

 

Jinki nodded, “I will be there shortly.”

 

Kibum excused himself and Jinki fisted the rings he had been staring at yet again. It had finally grown painful beyond his endurance. He had erased his memories many a time now but his love came back to haunt him. Memories returned in painful bursts. Agonizing flashbacks making his heart twist. Tears would leave him even before he could understand his pain...and everything began when he would glance at the rings hung around his neck.

 

He got up and began walking, his feet rising from the ground as his mystic fire took the form of wings. He could see the fiery mass atop the mountain he was flying to, whirling as magic and fire were being combined to birth a new immortal soul. The soul of his offspring.

 

He had created demons...but creating another entity that paralleled himself was a task that took centuries. A task that would fail if magic and fire were short or excess even by the slight. A task that was near to impossible, for, hell was not a place blessed with birth.

 

Demons were fallen angels. Angels that were turned mortal as a punishment and had nowhere to go but hell. Jinki would mold those souls to become demons...but his offspring had to be made from his own soul. It was excruciatingly painful to sever a part of himself. But he had made the decision to do so with ease. Centuries had passed since then. Slowly, painfully. And now he no longer remembered why he had chosen to create an offspring.

 

_Maybe to lessen my burden._

 

He stepped onto the ashy mountain, finding his demons in wait, bowing to him. He had only struggled with himself all this time, lost his previous drive. His pain no longer enabled him to walk the earth nor did it let him face a human soul that his demons brought. Hell was no longer the beautiful chaos it was. And it was due to him. He truly was an abomination of a king...and yet his demons had stayed patient all this while, bowed to him in a respect he did not deserve.

 

 _Maybe to lessen their burdens_.

 

Jinki walked closer to the mercurial ball of flames, engulfed in crimson magic. The skies darkened and lightened with every time the magic in the mass stormed, throwing gusts of winds in its perimeter. Jinki stepped closer, his body dipping in the crimson light that the mass emanated. He extended his arm, reaching out for the mercurial flames, closing his eyes and sensing the magic accumulated inside. He removed it a few moments later and unsheathed the enchanted dagger from his belt and sliced one horn off his head, stepping back in pain...the skies thundering loudly before darkening at that action. Crimson lines of pain ran through his entire body but Jinki stepped ahead, his breath hitched and inserted his horn into the mass.

 

_A part of my soul._

 

He grabbed the rings and broke the chain by pulling it before inserting it into the mass as well.

 

_A part of my pain._

 

He withdrew, watching the flames shine brighter, watching the dark magic whirl faster.

 

_Rise, my child._

 

The mass drifted up, filling the dark skies with red thunder. The erratic flames finally took form and began to drift back downwards. Jinki stepped ahead and extended his arms, the flames gently dropped into his embrace, the flames that had taken form of wings slowly dissipating and revealing an infant, asleep in a blanket of ashes.

 

Jinki carefully dusted the ash from the infant’s cheek, momentarily forgetting everything but the existence in his arms...the soft, little snores making him smile.

 

_You shall be the savior of hell._

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“My lord.”

 

Jinki turned to Kibum’s call, letting him know that he had his attention before returning to molding hellfire into unusual shapes. Shapes that in the mortal world were called “toys”.

 

“The young lord...is attempting to open a portal to Earth.”

 

Jinki’s hands halted and he let go of the fire, the flames fading into the air as he turned. The boy was growing similar to how a human infant does, and was currently akin to a five-year-old mortal both physically and mentally...but his magical prowess was something entirely different. He was strong, he was curious...and he was quick when it came to learning how to handle both magic and fire. This was expected since he had grown fascinated by the world and the heavens, finding the underworld too dull for his plays.

 

Suddenly, a thunder echoed in the skies and Jinki knew right away...that his son had succeeded. He broke into a dash, jumping off the cliff he usually resided on, rising with flaming wings, gliding towards where the thunder had come from. He was close soon and he spotted little aflame wings flying towards an unsteady hole in the skies.

 

Grunting with effort, Jinki increased his speed and had nabbed his son right before he flew into the portal, his eyes glowing crimson as he shut the portal, spreading calm in the skies. The boy flared his nostrils and tried to fly out of his father’s hold but Jinki only held him tighter, his gaze turning into a glare, “Taemin.”

 

Taemin pouted but dropped his effort, letting his wings vanish.

 

“But I want to go,” He whispered, his eyes teary. He nuzzled into Jinki and Jinki had no choice but to wound his arms around the young one. “Can I not go? Only for a short time. A time those mortals call...a day?”

 

Jinki knew there would come a time soon he may not be able to stop him.

 

“Alright,” He whispered, tapping his fingers on his back and summoning the boy’s flaming wings back again, “You need to stay close to me,” He tapped his little nose, smiling on how Taemin’s eyes had lit, “That world is a dangerous one because I do not rule it.”

 

Taemin nodded excitedly, watching his father’s dark eyes turn crimson and a whirling portal open right above them.

 

“Fly straight into it, little devil,” Jinki made him drift above, “I will be right behind.”

 

Taemin giggled before spreading his wings, flying into the portal, against the gusts it threw at him.

 

Jinki sighed, smiling at how handsomely he flew before he flew in as well, catching up to him in moments.

 

 

* * *

 

 

A day was not enough.

 

Jinki often brought him to the mortal world, watched over him as he busied himself in the colorful temptations the world had to offer. The breeze was indeed cooler, softer...and it lulled Taemin to sleep when Jinki walked on the streets with Taemin on his back, explaining what the Sun and the Moon were. Taemin had never been able to hear the story behind them fully.

 

The world was now different. Brighter, shinier, fast-paced, populated. He had been afraid he would fall back into the agony he had barely surfaced from. It still ached him. It still pierced him. Everything was vivid in his mind...yet he was now at peace. Because he had learned to harbor love again. Truly, it wasn’t the same kind...but it was enough, enough to fill a few voids.

 

Taemin had indeed been a savior. Not only of hell...but his as well.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Taemin quite enjoyed his mortal shell. The colorful clothes he wore, the feeling of wet sand on his palms as he molded it into demonic symbols, the warm sun on his back, the taste of cold ice-cream, the rainbow after a sudden shower, the smell of wet mud and grass. But with a mortal shell came mortal pain. He fell and scraped his knee. He chased a bee only to be stung by it. It was amusing...watching him run carefully. It was endearing...watching him flee at the sight of an insect, forgetting that he had decided to run carefully.

 

Jinki sat on a bench, watching his child play in the sandpit, building his fifth mountain. He did not know what happened but Taemin halted all of a sudden, like he had frozen in time. Jinki got up, sensing something amiss in his sentiments. Taemin’s soul, though evolving and now his own, was originally a part of him...and he had always been able to sense Taemin’s presence and emotions. This sentiment that he could sense coming from Taemin...was of extreme agony...of heartache...something Taemin had never felt.

 

He began walking towards his son but it was Taemin who dashed to him, tears flowing down his eyes.

 

“Father,” He whispered in between his cries and Jinki knelt down, wiping the streams that flowed down his cheeks- streams that did not halt. “It hurts,” He whimpered, clutching Jinki.

 

Jinki picked him up, patted his back, consoled him with words but nothing worked. He could feel it not work. He could feel the pain his son was in and it was breaking his heart...because he was helpless in making it go. He conjured a barrier, masking them from eyes of mortals before he opened a portal, returning to the underworld, clutching tightly to his son.

 

Their mortal shells burnt to ashes as Jinki stepped onto hell’s ashes. Taemin’s cries were beginning to calm...and he fell asleep in his arms, tired from the rush of agonizing emotions that had run through his oblivious soul. Jinki stepped back and dropped into his throne, putting Taemin in a better position in his lap, wiping his cheeks, his face grave as he pondered on the cause of this peculiar outburst.

 

Seeing how those feelings had dissipated so easily on their return...Jinki could tell that the reason behind his son’s agony was above them. On mortal land.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Taemin slowly eased out of that painful surge. He remembered the pain but he could no longer feel it. Jinki could feel the aftermath of it, slowly even the remembrance fading from Taemin’s soul. Jinki did not want to return to mortal land...he knew well that the realms were filled with gazillion mysteries and it was not worth hunting down something unknown when it could not possibly transcend the borders between the realms.

 

But Taemin came to him after a while, voicing his request meekly...perhaps because he too could sense what his father was feeling.

 

“Can we go to Earth again? Only for a day?” He asked softly, gently kneeling on Jinki’s lap and letting his wings disintegrate into flickering ashes, placing his little fists on top of his knees. Innocence dripped of his countenance and the way he bit his lip, the way his eyes grew teary and how endearing his voice sounded...Jinki could not resist giving in.

 

Taemin stared and stared at his father, waiting for a response and it came in the form of a portal opening in the sky above them. The child beamed, flashing his canines, pouncing on his father and embracing him.

 

Jink just sighed, smiling eventually as he tickled the boy into a fit of laughter before letting him soar upwards and following him.

 

 

* * *

 

 

What Jinki feared- happened. He had taken him to an amusement park in a different corner of the world but at the end of the day, Taemin wanted to play in the same sandpit he had played last. It was perhaps because he had grown fond of that spot, grown fond of how isolated it was. Taemin was afraid of the mortals, but he was the most afraid of the mortal children...and Jinki deemed the reason behind it was that one instance when Taemin had approached a few children, only to be made fun of for his lack of understanding of their norms. Taemin hadn’t cried even then and had just come to Jinki, asking to be taken somewhere else.

 

That was the reason why Jinki was fearful of when Taemin cried...because his son was strong in sentiments...and tears only left him if his sorrow was beyond his control, beyond his understanding.

 

He felt a fear clasp Taemin’s heart and he looked to his boy, finding him frozen, his hands awkwardly above the mountain he had been shaping. Jinki wasn’t very far this time, only mere steps away, sitting on the grass instead of the park bench. He was on his feet, dashing towards Taemin, taking his hands, feeling them to have gone unusually cold.

 

Taemin blinked, tears leaving him but this time he was not fretting. This time...it seemed like the boy _understood_ the cause of his pain. Jinki could feel the pangs of anguish, the pangs of regret, of helplessness, of confusion that were running through Taemin’s soul into him...but Taemin’s eyes were serene despite it all.

 

Taemin finally got up, his body shivering but he urged Jinki to get up as well, “Father…” He whispered, “Death.”

 

Jinki understood right then.

 

That rush of emotions was a common occurrence in death. A disarray of fear, confusion, and pain. A whirl of thoughts. A certain kind of peace accompanying it.

 

Taemin began to drag him and Jinki followed him, picking him up on the way because of how his little hands trembled. Taemin pointed a path to him and soon they were walking through buildings, through corridors until Taemin clutched onto Jinki’s arm, making him halt before a door.

 

It was a hospital room and as Jinki grew closer to the door, peeking inside through the small window, he could feel the agony in Taemin increase by folds. When he sighted the one lying on the bed, something in Jinki too clasped in extreme pain, making him heave breaths.

 

It was an unknown face...but from the way his entire being was suffering, he knew right away that the soul in this unknown mortal body...was _his._

 

His breathing was hitched. He was in pain. And with every breath he took, Jinki watched the life in him fade away.

 

And when he finally took his last breath, the weight of excruciating pain finally lifted from both Jinki and Taemin. Jinki gasped, finally finding the strength to move, his eyes growing teary in his helplessness, in his ill fate as he clutched onto Taemin tightly before he tried to open the door. The torturous suffering that had left him immobile had gone, but a different kind of pain was overwhelming him. The pain of loss. The pain that he had lived with for an uncountable time. The pain that he thought had numbed but only needed an instant to come clawing back at him. This was the very reason he had not stepped back into this world. Because he was afraid to find him reincarnated, perhaps in love with someone else. Perhaps not, but _waiting_ for love instead. A love Jinki would again be tempted to give. A temptation that would ruin _his_ life again and throw Jinki back into that endless pit of torment.

 

Taemin was sobbing, feeling the storm Jinki was trapped in, knowing he could do nothing.

 

Doctors rushed to the room and Jinki was pushed aside, the tone of the flatlining monitor indicating that again...it was too late.

 

 _It was futile to begin with._ Because Jinki had not seen the soul leave his body...and that meant only one thing. His soul was heaven bound again.

 

As Jinki walked away, strengthening himself for the sake of Taemin, he stopped short because someone halted right before him, having walked out through the wall.

 

He had gray hair, gray eyes but his features, his smile was of the one he had once loved. Of the one he still loved...and would always love.

 

He stepped ahead, his steps making no noise but Jinki could not move, aghast that he could _see_ , aghast at _what_ he could see.

 

“A fallen angel,” Jinki whispered, “You were made an angel but you fell to the mortal ground.”

 

“I waited,” He whispered, his voice just as sweet as it was eternities ago, “I waited for you to walk on mortal land again before I took the fall. I tried to discard my mortal shell whenever you were close...and I have finally succeeded.”

 

Jinki just stared at him. Because he had not forgotten despite having the choice to. Because he had chosen to sin for him. Because he had chosen to fall for him. Because he had defied every rule of every realm...only to stand before him...even if he had to endure the same agony Jinki had for all this time.

 

Demons appeared behind him and they bowed on spotting Jinki close.

 

 _He_ stepped closer to Jinki, extending his wrists, a playful smile on his face despite how his eyes were tearing up in relief, in a conjunction of both sorrow and bliss.

 

“Would you not take me?” He asked in a soft whisper, “I am hellbound now.”

 

Jinki vanquished both his and Taemin’s mortal shells before he grabbed _his_ arm, pulling him into his embrace.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The sky was a bright crimson, but brighter was the magical fire that was molding the fallen angel’s soul into a demon’s. He stepped ahead towards the throne, the fire evanescing to reveal dark hair and eyes a strong ebony, holding a fiery glint, the glint that now indicated that he was a protector of hell.

 

He bowed before the Devil and the Devil walked up to him, placing his palm on his shoulder, the magic of his hold bringing out his dark wings.

 

“What shall I name you?” Jinki softly asked.

 

“The name you so lovingly called me by,” He answered, rising with a smile, “Jonghyun.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was majorly from Jinki's perspective but I left some hints as to what Jonghyun's story was, but if my writing was not clear enough (highly likely):
> 
> I described what fallen angels are in the early part of the story and how they became demons. Then later when it is revealed that Jonghyun is a fallen angel and he says the line "I waited..." subtly tells Jonghyun's side of the story. His soul was heaven bound and he became an angel. He refused to erase memories of his mortal life and kept an eye on Earth for Jinki's presence (he would have gotten to know Jinki's actual identity when he died and was transcending to heaven and could see through Jinki's mortal shell). When he finally felt Jinki's presence on Earth, he knowingly committed a sin and was punished. He fell to the Earth and tried to lose his mortal body (kill himself) so he could descend to Hell. He tries and succeeds the second time Jinki is close by. 
> 
> Another note: The rings had been dear to Jonghyun as well and held a fragment of Jonghyun's soul/Jonghyun's spiritual power. With Jinki adding the rings when molding Taemin, he unknowingly makes Taemin the link between Jonghyun and him. Taemin, being part Jonghyun, led him back to Earth...and hence united the two and became a savior in meanings more than one.


End file.
